cyberval's Profile

I looked up the current dollar value of my aged sofa and it would cost about $3,000 today. No, it definitely wasn't worth it, hasn't worn well and I suspect the frame is not the greatest despite the fact that it was purchased from a furniture store with a very good reputation for mid-range to high-end furniture. I have friends who bought second hand sofas, had them recovered, and am sure they got a great deal on solid furniture which will last.

One thing the NYT article doesn't dwell on is that companies like Baker have a major expense in maintaining their brand. They have a huge showroom in Chicago and, I imagine, in all the furniture marts throughout the country. They only advertise in the high end magazines. I have no doubt they produce a quality product but am not convinced that the quality warrants the sky high prices. You are paying for a lot more than the materials in the sofa for a "quality" brand.

I think waiting to see if they will get a better offer is true for some people. I am always thrilled to get an email from certain individuals, very promptly by the way, saying "it sounds interesting, I might come". They then wait until the deadline to send regrets.

"Just as an art gallery wouldn't shove four paintings into a tight corner, don't try to shove four delicate vases onto one shelf". This really flies in the face of advice often given to combine like objects as a collection and not scatter them around a home.

I think people should decide on their own comfort level. I don't agree that you can't think, have a new idea or whatever just because there is some clutter in your home. People who admire minimalism should remember that this is just their taste, a choice, and not a sign of a superior aesthetic.

There do seem to be people within AP who are obsessed with minimalism but I suspect that is because they are New Yorkers who have a definite disadvantage in that their living space is tiny compared to most of the rest of the country. They have to keep their belongings under control but many of us have more space to play with.

Zgallerie also has a lamp very like the large chrome one.

Sorry, I am underwhelmed by this house. It looks like cookie cutter scandi-style that appears in multiple european publications. Perhaps it looks fresh to the american eye, but if you look at european publications houses decorated like this are two a penny.

I am the only one who thinks this bleached-out scandi-look is getting rather old? Ditto with the straight vanilla mid-century look.

One thing we should all learn from this Flor photo shoot - nothing in real life looks as good as when it is arranged by a professional stylist and photographed by a professional photographer. That includes shoots of people too, except they have additional help from photoshop.

There seems to be some support for bookshelves in the recesses. I don't agree because the recesses are very narrow. I think the horizontal lines of bookshelves will fight with the vertical lines of the mouldings. Besides, you really wouldn't be able to fit that many books here and it would make the whole area look very busy.

The mouldings themselves look far more linear than the average older home mouldings. I would not obscure them with lots of stuff.

If you put sconces in the recesses, you can match the metal of the sconce to a fire screen that would lighten up the fireplace. That together with art or mirror over the fireplace and perhaps a couple of objects on the mantelpiece would be enough on that wall.

If, on the other hand, you want to de-emphasise the mouldings, you could paint them out by painting them the same color chosen for the walls. I think that would be a pity, but some people like that look.

Most period houses did hang a mirror over the fireplace. One would look fine there. You don't have to use a traditional mirror, you could go modern. If you did that, how about putting a modern sconce in each recessed area? Alternatively you could hang a large piece of art, lit by a picture light.

One thing, I would paint the walls a mid-tone tending towards dark. You have a lot of white moulding to lift it. At the moment, the black marble fireplace is too much of a contrast and looks like a black hole. A darker color would balance it more.

AWEGWEISER said Who says crime does not pay? Put in a little prison time for a felony and you too can be paid $38.5 Mil for a whopping 16.5% piece of your business. Might have been fun to listen in on the negotiations for that deal.

I was never a Martha Stewart fan but have to agree with the Wall Street Journal, hardly a bastion of liberalism, who were highly critical of the government's prosecution. Many many people are convinced that the whole debacle was a politically motivated exercise by Bush cronies because Martha had the nerve to give financial support to the Democrats.

I have never bought anything designed by Martha Stewart but when she was designing furniture for Bernhardt I noticed she received very favorable press from other designers and from the design media. We shall just have to wait and see what transpires from this deal.

Cashmere should actually be hand-washed. A dry cleaner in my neighborhood had a big notice warning customers that dry cleaning can cause bobbles on cashmere.

Most knitted woolens should be hand washed. Shrinking seems to be related to too hot water and also the drying. If it takes too long to dry, the sweater may shrink.

Watch out for printed rayon or silk. Some is OK, some not and you have no way of knowing in advance. You only find out when the pattern runs all over the place. Silk can also have a lot of dressing in it which seems to wash out and leaves the fabric really limp and without body.

Never, ever, try to wash clothes made from woven wool unless the fabric is sold as washable. It can felt, shrink and end up a mangled mess.

Any clothing with a lining shouldn't be washed either because as someone has already pointed out the different fabric may well respond differently to the washing (one may shrink, the other not).

You can tell I have attempted to wash many things over the years, sometimes successfully, sometimes not! Just remember, if the label says Dry Clean, you have no recourse if washing destroys anything.